Scotland 'A' laid down a marker for the senior side's Six Nations opener by routing the England Saxons 35-0 in Galashiels on Friday night.

Tries from Duncan Weir, who finished with 20 points, Stuart Hogg, Rory Lawson and Matt Scott helped the home side pile on the points under the Netherdale floodlights as the visitors finished with no reward.

A crowd of 4,124 enjoyed a feast of rugby from the Scots who were for the most part a real force. The two full international sides go toe-to-toe at Murrayfield on Saturday and new England boss Stuart Lancaster will hope that his young charges can muster more resistance than their Saxons counterparts.

The hosts dominated the first half and were well worth their 13-0 lead at the interval. Early on England were penalised for not rolling away and Weir kicked the goal to give the Scots a start on the scoreboard after just three minutes.

The English were unable to stretch the Scotland defensive line, where the tackling was solid, and the home side showed further adventure for the first try. Hogg, the Glasgow fullback, stormed home over 60 metres and Weir converted for a 10-0 lead.

Scotland tackled aggressively to deny the Saxons any scoring opportunities and the English were short of ideas beyond the Scottish 22, although Weir missed an opportunity to add to their lead with a penalty.

England lock James Gaskell fell foul of referee Leighton Hodges after 37 minutes and was sin-binned for a high tackle on Scott. The Scots started to make the extra man count, and when England were caught offside, Weir kicked his second penalty for a 13-0 interval lead.

The Scots were well on top before Weir ran in his try on the 52nd minute. The Glasgow playmaker sped from a scrum and past some lazy defence to score under the posts, converting his own try.

When Ed Slater was the second Englishman to be binned, Weir stretched the home lead, with skipper Lawson and Scott adding further tries before the close.